Although I’m looking forward to the entire trip from a
traveler’s perspective, as a student I am interested in seeing the Ahrida
Synagogue in Balat. The synagogue was founded in Constantinople, before the
Ottoman conquest, by a group of Greek Jews.
One interesting thing about the synagogue is that is has
been used by multiple rites of Judaism, as the Greek Jews were absorbed into
Sephardic culture after the Sephardic Jews arrived from Spain. Religious
philosophies often appear in architecture, so I will be interested in seeing if
the old building matches the current beliefs.
I like seeing older synagogues, and especially foreign
synagogues, because it really allows me to see how Judaism has changed through
geography and time. I don’t have the same experience with churches or mosques,
but I’ll be seeing many of both during this course, and I really can’t wait to
be off!
